ON THIS DAY IN MUSIC

January 20th

1965 - Alan Freed

American disc-jockey Alan Freed died from uraemia and cirrhosis brought on by alcoholism at the age of 42. Freed called himself the "father of rock and roll", appeared in the movies such as Rock Around the Clock and Don't Knock the Rock. His career was destroyed by the payola scandal that hit the broadcasting industry in the early 1960s.

1967 - Monkees

The Monkees TV show was shown for the first time in the UK. The series followed the adventures of four young men (the Monkees) trying to make a name for themselves as rock 'n roll singers. They went on to sell more than 75 million records worldwide and had international hits, including 'Last Train to Clarksville', 'Pleasant Valley Sunday', 'Daydream Believer', and 'I'm a Believer'.


1968 - John Fred and the Playboy Band

One Hit Wonders John Fred and the Playboy Band started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Judy In Disguise, (With Glasses)', it made No.3 in the UK. The song was inspired by The Beatles 'Lucy In The Sky'.


1969 - Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen had two of his poems published in the Ocean County College Literary Yearbook Seascapes. Springsteen was in his second semester at the Toms River, New Jersey College.

1969 - Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin appeared at the Wheaton Youth Center, Wheaton, during their first North American tour. Some reports suggest that only 55 fans attended this show, (if so, this would make it the smallest audience they ever played to). This show was on a Monday and the night of Richard Nixon's inauguration. Zeppelin were paid $250 to appear.

1972 - Pink Floyd

On the first date of a UK tour at The Dome, Brighton, England, Pink Floyd attempted to premiere their new album The Dark Side of The Moon but due to technical problems this was abandoned after a performance of the track 'Money'.

1982 - Ozzy Osbourne

During an Ozzy Osbourne concert in Des Moines, Iowa, a member of the audience threw a bat onto the stage. Stunned by the light, the bat lay motionless, and thinking it was a rubber fake, the singer picked it up and attempted to bite its head off. As he did this, the bat started to flap its wings and Ozzy soon realized it wasn't fake but in fact a living thing. After the show Ozzy was immediately rushed to the nearest hospital for rabies shots.

Ozzy goes bats

in recovery . . . . 

1983 - Def Leppard

Def Leppard released their third studio album 'Pyromania' which featured new guitarist Phil Collen and was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. The album has now sold over 10 million copies in the US.

1988 - The Beatles

The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Yoko, Sean, and Julian Lennon all attend. Paul McCartney did not attend, sending instead a letter stating that continuing business differences with the other ex-Beatles was the reason for his absence.

1997 - Phish

Ben and Jerry's introduced 'Phish food', a new flavour of ice cream named after the rock group Phish. The ingredients were chocolate ice cream, marshmallows, caramel and fish-shaped fudge.

2000 - The Beatles

Tourism chiefs in Liverpool were banned from putting up motorway signs saying 'Liverpool, the Birthplace Of The Beatles because the Highways Agency thought the signs would distract motorists.

2000 - Ray Jones

English bassist Ray Jones from The Dakotas died. They had the 1964 UK No.1 & US No.7 single 'Little Children' as Billy J Kramer and The Dakotas. In addition to backing Kramer, the group itself is best known for their instrumental single ‘The Cruel Sea’, that reached No.18 in the UK charts in July 1963. The track was re-titled ‘The Cruel Surf’ in the US, and was subsequently covered by The Ventures.




2001 - Kirsty MacColl
Kirsty MacColl Memorial service remembered here
A memorial service was held for Kirsty MacColl who was killed in a boating accident off the coast of Mexico in December 2000. Bono from U2 and Billy Bragg were among friends and fans that packed St Martin-in-the-Fields church in London.

Boy we miss her . . . . 

2002 - George Harrison

George Harrison had the posthumous UK No.1 single with the re-release of the 1971 former No.1 'My Sweet Lord'. Harrison's single replaced Aaliyah's 'More Than A Woman', the only time in chart history that one deceased artist had taken over from another at No.1. 'My Sweet Lord'.

2003 - Eminem

8 Mile, starring Eminem toppled The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers from its four-week hold at the top of the UK box office. The story of a Detroit rapper took £4,440,334 at 423 cinemas in the UK and Ireland.

2012 - Etta James

Etta James, most often remembered for her signature song, 'At Last', which reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart, died from complications of leukemia at the age of 73. She also placed nine other songs in the American Top 40, won three Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

2017 - Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney was suing Sony over control of The Beatles' back catalogue. McCartney had gone to a US court, seeking to regain the publishing rights to 267 of the band's classic songs. He had been trying to get them back since the 1980s, when Michael Jackson famously out-bid him for the rights. Jackson's debt-ridden estate sold the songs to Sony in 2016.

BIRTHDAYS

1946 - David Keith Lynch

Lynch is an auteur maverick American film director, screenwriter, producer, painter, sound designer, musician, and photographer, known for his unique surrealistic cinematic style. personal hero from first watching Eraserhead (still a favourite film) to his TV work (Twin Peaks) and continued film catalogue Lost Highway, The Straight Story and Mulholland Drive all number in my top favourite films. For his own productions, he composed music for Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Mulholland Drive, and Rabbits but has also worked with Angelo Badalamenti and July Cruse on music albums

1981 - Nathan Connolly

Nathan Connolly, from Northern Irish rock band Snow Patrol, who scored the 2006 UK No.1 album Eyes Open and the 2006 UK No.6 single ‘Chasing Cars’.

1971 - Gary Barlow

Gary Barlow, vocals, piano, songwriter, Take That (1995 UK No.1 single ‘Back For Good’ plus eight other UK No.1 singles, 1993 UK No.1 album 'Everything Changes spent 78 weeks on the UK chart). Solo, (1996 UK No.1 single ‘Forever Love’). Written songs for Donny Osmond, Charlotte Church, Bryan McFadden and Atomic Kitten. Re-formed Take That without Robbie Williams in 2006 for a sold-out European tour.

1965 - Heather Small

Heather Small, singer, M People, (1993 UK No.2 single 'Moving On Up' plus over 15 other UK Top 40 singles).

1945 - Eric Stewart

English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Eric Stewart who with the Mindbenders had the 1966 UK No.2 single 'Groovy Kind Of Love'. With Hotlegs the 1970 UK No.2 single 'Neanderthal Man' and as a member of 10cc the 1975 UK No.1 & US No. 2 single 'I'm Not In Love' plus 10 other Top 30 hits). Stewart co-owned Strawberry Studios in Stockport, England from 1968 to the early 1980s. He also collaborated with Paul McCartney extensively in the mid-1980s, playing on or co-writing songs for McCartney's solo albums Tug of War (1982), Pipes of Peace (1983), Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984), and Press to Play (1986).


1924 - Slim Whitman

Slim Whitman, American country singer, (1955 UK No.1 single 'Rose Marie', 1977 UK No.1 album 'Red River Valley'). He died of heart failure on June 19, 2013 surrounded by family at Orange Park Medical Center in Orange Park, Florida aged 90.

1889 - Leadbelly

Huddie William Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly (January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949), American folk and blues musician notable for his powerful vocals, twelve-string guitar virtuosity, and the folk standards he introduced. Lead Belly was usually heard on twelve-string guitar, but he also played the piano, mandolin, harmonica, violin, and "windjammer" (diatonic accordion).

Lead Belly's songs covered a wide range of genres and topics including gospel music; blues about women, liquor, prison life, and racism; and folk songs about cowboys, prison, work, sailors, cattle herding, and dancing. He wrote 'Goodnight Irene', 'The Rock Island Line', and 'The Midnight Special'. He also wrote songs about people in the news.

Imprisoned multiple times beginning in 1915 when he was convicted of carrying a pistol and sentenced to time on the Harrison County chain gang, He later escaped and found work in nearby Bowie County under the assumed name of Walter Boyd. Later, in January 1918, he was imprisoned at the Imperial Farm in Sugar Land, Texas, after killing one of his relatives in a fight over a woman. During his second prison term, another inmate stabbed him in the neck (leaving him with a fearsome scar he subsequently covered with a bandana); Ledbetter almost killed the attacker with his own knife. In 1925 he was pardoned and released after writing a song to the state Governor seeking his freedom, having served the minimum seven years of his 7-to-35-year sentence. An early influence and I bought many albums and EPs at about 13 years of age




with eternal thanks to On This Day In Music